Certain cities, like San Francisco, Seattle, and Cambridge, are known for being brainy. They’re home to robust technology sectors and have booming populations of high-tech professionals to match. But what about cities that are actually smart? What if a city could shore up its energy grid when a big storm was predicted, or had sidewalks that could heat up automatically when it snows? From North America to South Korea, urban planners, architects, and engineers are designing cities for the future, and in the process, they’re finding out what the urban streetscapes of tomorrow might look like.

Home to many of New York City’s best art galleries and museums, Chelsea is currently experiencing yet another creative awakening; this time, at the cutting-edge intersection of art and architecture. Right now, this marriage of inspiration and function is nowhere more apparent than inside the unprecedented Visionaries Gallery—a spectacular sales gallery for The XI (“The Eleventh”) the new twisting towers developed by HFZ Capital Group and designed by Bjarke Ingels Group.

The New York City skyline is dotted with top-floor apartments that bear the designation of "penthouse." But at 212 Fifth Avenue, the penthouse is much more than that—it's a place where design, history, and luxury exist alongside one another, producing a penthouse home that is as unique as it is awe-inspiring.